Halcyon Days
by amberdowny
Summary: Drake braves the snowy winter of New England to visit Josh. Future fic. Slashy too.


Title: Halcyon Days

Author: SP

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider and whoever else own everything.

Rating: T

Pairing: Drake/Josh

Word Count: 4333--a new record!!

Summary: Drake braves the snowy winter of New England to visit Josh. Future fic. Slashy too.

Author's Notes: In iCarly, does Sam have a picture of Drake in her locker? I haven't seen a close enough or long enough shot of it to tell for sure.

Josh keeps his cell phone turned off when he's teaching. He doesn't let the kids turn theirs on in class, so it's only fair. But there is the occasional slip-up. Unless it happens to the same kid twice in two weeks, Josh doesn't make a big deal. He's not unreasonable.

So when he hears a cell phone ringing he pauses in his lecture on ions and looks up. "Okay, take care of it."

The kids all look at each other. There are murmurs of "Not me," and "Mine's on vibrate." Josh frowns at hearing _that_, then realizes what else he's hearing. "Makes Me Happy" is the ringtone playing.

He blushes, then walks over to where he'd placed his messenger bag by his desk. "It's mine, guys," he admits. He pulls out his phone, just as it stops ringing. He sighs. It's gone to voicemail.

"You have a _Drake Parker_ song as your ringtone?" one of the boys asks scathingly.

Josh smiles. "Sure. How else am I going to know when Drake is calling if I don't use his song?"

One of the girls exchanges glances with her friends, then asks, "Mr. Nichols, do you _know_ Drake Parker?"

Josh's smile widens. He's been waiting for this. "He's my stepbrother," he responds. The girls all shriek excitedly.

"Can you get us his autograph? Please?" the first girl asks.

"Maybe," Josh replies. "But let's get back to ionic bonds, shall we?"

The kids grumble good-naturedly. They're a good bunch, he'd taught a lot of them last year, and the fact that Josh is only five years older than them makes them more cooperative. They settle back in to take notes.

Just as Josh gets into his lecture, the bell rings. The kids hurriedly scoop their binders into their backpacks. "Finish chapter nine for tomorrow," he reminds them loudly as they rush out of the room.

"Okay!" and "Ugh," are his answers, but Josh knows they'll all come to class the next day with it done. He'd promised them that if they all did their homework every night that week, then he wouldn't assign any homework over the next week's vacation.

When the last kid leaves the room, Josh pulls his phone out again. He's done teaching for the day, and can leave if he wants to. Normally, he sticks around, in case one of his students needs help with anything. But it also means he has time to return Drake's call.

He doesn't bother listening to Drake's message, knowing all it says is, "Hey Josh, it's me. Call me." Instead, he dials the number and waits for Drake to pick up.

"Hey!" Drake answers almost immediately. "Why didn't you pick up?"

"I'm _teaching_," Josh replies exasperatedly. "I can't just stop in the middle of class and answer my phone!"

"Oh yeah, sorry."

Josh smiles. "So, why'd you call?" he asks, though he knows why.

"Did you hear it?" Drake replies. Josh can picture him bouncing.

"Hear what?" Josh asks teasingly.

Now Josh knows that Drake is pouting. "Stop teasing," he orders. "Did you hear my new single on the radio?"

"Yes, I heard it," Josh says, relenting. "And it was awesome, as usual."

"It was about you, you know."

"Also as usual," Josh answers. "And I do know. I could tell."

"Good." Drake sighs. "Man, I wish I could see you. Why did you have to move to Massachusetts again?"

"Drake. We had this conversation already."

Drake sighs again, running the sigh and his next words together. "Yeah, but I--"

"Dude!" Josh says suddenly. "Do you have anything coming up?"

"Uh…an interview with Eighteen magazine Monday--not day after day after day after tomorrow, a week from that. Why?"

"Because," Josh replies, "I don't have school next week. You should totally come out here!"

Drake sounds doubtful. "I don't know…isn't there, like, snow there?"

"Drake!"

Drake is quiet for a moment, then finally says, "Fine," like it's a big concession.

"You know you want to," Josh snaps. "Call me when you know flight information."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too. Later."

"Later."

--

Josh stands on tiptoe and scans the crowd for his brother. He can't see him anywhere. He groans in frustration and drops back down. It's no use; there are way too many people. He turns around and heads back to where he had been sitting.

"Josh!" he hears suddenly, and he looks up and there's Drake.

Josh grins and waits for Drake to fight his way over to him. As soon as he's in arm's reach, Josh pulls him into a huge hug. "Ugh, it's been way too long since we've seen each other," Josh complains.

"There was Christmas," Drake offers. "Hey, you're letting your hair grow out?"

"Two months ago," Josh counters, as they begin to leave the airport. "And it hasn't grown that much in two months."

"It's getting fluffy. And when you were in college out here, we didn't see each other from Christmas until May," Drake reminds Josh. "We managed."

"Yeah, but…"

"And you refuse to come back to California and live in LA with me, and I just _can't_ live out here with you. It wouldn't work if I wanted to keep doing what I'm doing. So we have to deal with it. I only have my carryon," he adds, as they pass the luggage carousels.

Josh stares at the small bag in Drake's hand. "You fit a week's worth of clothes in there?" he asks incredulously. "And Spin City's main branch is in New York."

"It's not like I have tons of winter clothes. I figured I'd borrow some heavy stuff from you. And I know, but…"

"But you hate snow. And speaking of snow, you'll swim in my things."

Drake shoots Josh a wicked grin. "Then we'll have to stay in, now won't we?"

Josh feels himself heating up, and catches Drake's smirk out of the corner of his eye. "Drake," he says warningly.

"Yes?" Drake asks charmingly.

Rather than answer, Josh simply opens the exit door and allows the blast of frigid wintry air to chastise Drake for him.

Drake, clad only in jeans, a thin T-shirt and blazer, shivers violently. "Josh," he whines, "it's cold."

Josh takes off his winter jacket, under which he's wearing a sweatshirt, sweater, long-sleeved shirt and a T-shirt, in anticipation of this very thing. "Here," he says, holding the jacket out. Drake hurriedly pulls it on, still shivering. Josh rolls his eyes. "I _am_ making you play in the snow with me," he says firmly. "You need to make a snowman."

"No way."

"It's fun to make snowmen," Josh says. "And after, I'll make you some hot chocolate," he adds, enticingly.

"Maybe," Drake concedes, as they arrive beside Josh's car. "Let's talk about it later. Unlock your car." Josh does, and Drake practically dives in, throwing his bag carelessly into the backseat. "Hurry up." Drake shivers. "Turn on the heat."

Josh laughs as he slides into the driver's seat and buckles his seatbelt, then turns the key in the ignition. The engine roars to life, along with the heater. Drake immediately turns the fan knob as far to the right as it goes. Cold air blasts out of the vents. Josh switches the heat to defrost, so that the cold air is blowing on the windshield.

"It'll heat up in a minute," he reassures a still-shivering Drake. He puts the car into reverse and leaves the lot.

Drake grumbles, but buckles his seatbelt and starts to play with the radio. It's set to NPR, so Drake fumbles with the buttons, trying to find some music. He randomly jabs at a button, grinning in triumph when he hears a CD starting up. Even if it's Josh's music, it's music.

Josh blushes and Drake looks astonished when the opening notes of "Highway to Nowhere" come from the speakers.

"You made a CD of my songs from high school?"

"Yeah," Josh replies. "Some of those never made it onto any of your albums. I like them."

Drake grins. "Thanks. Man, when I think of how far I've come since then…it's all thanks to you, you know."

Josh flushes darker, and switches over to radio, finding a station he knows Drake will like. "I don't know about that."

"Come on, if you hadn't gotten me on TRL that time in LA--with the counterfeiters, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, if you hadn't gotten me onto TRL, that guy never would have hooked you up with Spin City, and then…what was his name, Alan something? He never would have come seen me and I would have never gotten my song on the Superbowl commercial. _And_ if it wasn't for you, that shitty version would have been on the commercial, and I wouldn't have gotten my first number one." Drake takes a huge breath after saying all that. "So it's totally thanks to you."

Josh shrugs. "You have the talent. I just showed you off."

Drake sticks a hand over the vent on the dashboard, and feeling that the air blowing out is hot, adjusts the heater to blow on him again.

"Oh," Josh says suddenly. "I know Megan's allergic to cats. Are you?"

"No," Drake replies. "Why?"

Josh smiles. "I got a cat a couple weeks ago."

"What's his name?" Drake asks.

"_Her_ name," Josh corrects, "is--"

"Wait, let me guess," Drake interrupts. "Oprah, right?"

"Maybe," Josh mumbles.

Drake grins. "Good to see some things never change."

"She's an inspiration," Josh defends himself, but it's just a habit by now.

--

Drake shivers, bouncing impatiently, as Josh unlocks his door. Drake rushes through it as soon as it's open, basking in the warmth of Josh's living room.

"Okay, you're just exaggerating now," Josh complains, closing the door behind him as he enters as well. "Here, give me your bag, I'll go put it away. Will you go into the kitchen and check if I have any messages on my machine?"

Drake crosses to the kitchen, knowing that it wasn't really a request. He looks around. It's small, but very tidy--except for the kitten sleeping on the table. Drake chuckles, then searches for the phone. He sees it in a corner and looks at the red number. Two. Drake goes back to the living room, waiting for Josh to come back in.

He doesn't have long to wait. Josh re-enters the room. As he begins to speak, Drake moves closer. "I put your bag in my room. Did I have an--"

Drake leans in and kisses him. Josh kisses back immediately, wrapping his arms around Drake. "Mmm," Drake sighs, breaking the kiss and resting his head on Josh's shoulder. "I've been wanting to do that since I got off the plane."

Josh turns his head and presses a kiss to Drake's temple. "Me too. It's _definitely_ been too long since we've seen each other."

"There is a solution," Drake reminds him.

"More than one," Josh retorts. "Did I have any messages?"

Drake steps back, out of Josh's embrace. "Oh yeah. It said two."

"Was the number blinking?"

"No."

"'Kay, they're old. Did you see Oprah in there? She usually sleeps on my bed, or else she's underfoot."

Drake gestures towards the kitchen. "She's sleeping on the table."

Josh frowns. "That is _not_ sanitary." He strides into the next room. Drake hears a soft _thump_ and seconds later, the kitten trots over to him and begins sniffing his feet. Drake bends down and pets her. She purrs and pushes her head against his hand.

Drake smiles, then sits on the couch. Oprah follows and leaps lightly onto his lap, insistently rubbing against his chest. "I can take a hint," Drake tells her. He continues to stroke her.

Drake jumps as Josh sits beside him. "Uh-oh," Josh says warningly. "You don't know what you just got yourself into. She won't leave you alone all week."

"Well, she's cute," Drake replies, snuggling into Josh's side.

"So are you." Josh punctuates his statement by kissing Drake's temple again and putting an arm over his shoulders.

Drake smiles contentedly.

--

Josh turns off the light and crosses to the bed. Drake, already under the covers, waits impatiently for him. The moment Josh gets into bed, Drake presses against him. Josh laughs softly and shifts them both so that Drake is lying with his head on Josh's shoulder, Josh's arm wrapped around his torso. Drake drapes an arm over Josh's waist.

"This is what I miss most," Drake murmurs.

"Sleeping?" Josh teases.

"Sleeping with _you_," Drake elaborates. "And I mean _just_ sleeping. Not that I don't miss sex too. I do. I plan to ravish you at some point in the near future. But not tonight. Tonight, this is enough."

Josh tilts Drake's chin up and kisses him gently. "I love you too."

"I didn't say 'I love you,'" Drake replies. "I do, of course I do. But I didn't say it."

Josh yawns. "Not in those words, maybe."

Drake props himself up on his elbow. "So what words said 'I love you' to you? 'I plan to ravish you'? That's not overly romantic."

"Well, no, since to ravish technically means to rape someone," Josh agrees thoughtfully. "It wasn't specific words. It was your intent."

"I don't intend to rape you!"

Josh pulls Drake down so his head rests on his shoulder again. "Calm down. I know that. I wasn't saying you would. I meant the intent behind your words--to express…I don't know. The part about just being together being enough. Not the part about ravishing me."

"Oh." Drake puts a leg over Josh's, yawns, and settles against him.

With a mischievous grin, Josh adds, "And anyway, I'll be the one doing the ravishing."

"Well, yeah," Drake agrees.

"You are completely a bottom. A very pushy bottom."

"I know. But you love it."

Josh yawns again and drops a kiss on the crown of Drake's head. "True that. And I love you."

"Love you too. Night."

"Night."

--

Drake wakes up slowly the next morning. He and Josh are still in the same positions they were in when they fell asleep the night before.

It feels like it's about six in the morning, so he knows it must be nine, with the time difference. Josh is already awake, Drake can tell by his breathing. He opens his eyes to see Josh looking back at him. He smiles, then pecks him on the lips. "Morning."

"Morning," Josh replies. "I didn't wake you up, did I? I was trying to let you sleep. I know it's only six-thirty in LA."

Drake yawns. "You didn't wake me up. But you could have. I should adjust to the whole East Coast time thing while I'm here."

Josh shrugs, as best he can with his arms full of Drake. "If that's what you want." He falls silent, but doesn't look away.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!" Drake says cheekily.

Josh plants a kiss on Drake's mouth. He starts to speak, but Drake leans in and kisses him. It's not a light kiss, like the other two they've already exchanged this morning. Drake leans into it more, and slowly pushes at Josh until he's flat on his back with Drake on top of him.

"Hey," Drake says softly as he pulls back.

"Hey," Josh replies, with a small smile. "Just sleeping not enough for you anymore?"

Drake answers with a smirk before moving in again.

--

"I can't believe you convinced me to come out here," Drake complains.

"I wasn't going to let you come all the way out here and then not play in the snow," Josh retorts. "Imagine it, Drake. Some people never see snow their whole lives. You should count yourself lucky."

"Lucky my a--"

"Drake," Josh says warningly. "There are children around."

Drake harrumphs. "I'm cold," he announces.

Josh sighs. "Drake. You are wearing your own T-shirt and long sleeved shirt, two of my sweatshirts, one of my sweaters, my fleece _and_ my new winter coat. Plus you're wearing your own jeans and sweatpants. Not to mention my lightweight gloves _and_ my heavy gloves, and my hat, and my boots."

"Your point?" Drake asks.

"I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt, my old winter coat and jeans. And since you have both pairs of my do-stuff-with-snow gloves, I have on my driving gloves, which are very thin. And leather. And since you have my boots, I'm in sneakers. And I'm not cold."

Drake shrugs. "So? You went to school here for four years, and you've been living here for a year. This is my first experience with snow."

"What about when Megan messed with the air conditioning in our room and made it snow?" Josh counters.

Drake makes a snowball and chucks it at Josh's head. "That doesn't count."

Josh shakes the snow out of his hair and throws a snowball back at Drake. It hits him full in the face, and he's left dripping and gasping. "Okay, it's on!" he declares. He scoops up two handfuls of snow and, not bothering to shape them into balls, throws the clumps of snow at Josh.

Josh dodges them easily, then, laughing, hurriedly makes another snowball and fires it at Drake. Drake retaliates with a few of his own. When only one actually hits, Drake gives up on the ball idea and simply tackles Josh into a snowbank.

The two stepbrothers roll around in the snow, laughing and trying to shove it down each other's backs. Finally, Josh succeeds in slipping a large hunk of ice under all of Drake's layers, trapping it against his bare skin where it immediately starts to melt. Drake lets out an undignified and unmanly shriek as icy water drips down his back.

"Can we go in?" Drake pleads, contorting around in attempt to remove the ice.

Josh takes pity on Drake and fishes it out. "Yeah, I'm pretty soaked," he says. Together they return to the warmth of the building. They kick off their footwear at the door and pull off their outer layers. "Hang our wet--_my_ wet jackets in the bathtub, okay?" Josh requests. "Leave all the other wet clothes in the hamper. You can hang your wet things in the bathtub too, if you need to wear any of it in the tomorrow or Friday. I'll wash and dry all your things on Saturday, so you're all set to leave on Sunday."

"Will do," Drake promises, trying not to think about the fact that it's already Wednesday, then heads towards the bathroom, ducking into Josh's room first to grab something dry to put on. Josh follows him in, and begins to rifle through his drawers as Drake exits again. Once in the bathroom, he hangs up the two jackets and begins to peel out of his many layers. Josh's fleece. Josh's sweater. Josh's sweatshirt. Josh's other sweatshirt. His T-shirt. His long-sleeved shirt. The sweatshirts are both still dry, so Drake sets them aside to return to Josh's closet. Then he peels off his sweatpants, jeans and boxers. Drake feels like laughing as he looks at all the clothes piled up around him. He pulls on his dry T-shirt and pajama pants, realizing he's forgotten dry boxers.

"Oh well," he says to himself, as he dumps all the wet clothes into the hamper and starts back towards Josh's room with the dry sweatshirts. He finds the room empty, with Josh's wet clothes in a pile near the closet. He hangs the sweatshirts back in Josh's closet, then picks up the wet things and delivers them to the bathroom. Then, completely at a loss to where Josh is, he calls out "Where are you?"

"Kitchen!" Josh replies, so Drake goes to the aforementioned kitchen.

Josh is standing at the counter, stirring something in two mugs. "Feel better?" he asks, as he opens the refrigerator. "Sit down," he continues before Drake can reply.

"I'm drier," Drake remarks as he sits.

"I should hope so," Josh answers. Then he sprays a small mound of whipped cream into the mugs, returns the can to the refrigerator, then brings the mugs carefully to the table. "I told you I'd make you hot chocolate."

"And you actually remembered; you said it two days ago," Drake teases gently. Then he grins. "Thanks." He takes a sip of the warm drink, then stares at it.

"Um…any reason you're gaping at your hot chocolate?" Josh asks, amused.

Drake hastily takes another sip. "It's just really good. You have a gift with making chocolate things, Josh. I'm not kidding. Even if your Fudgie-Boos do take way too long to cook."

Josh rolls his eyes, then takes a sip from his own cup.

--

"I almost forgot," Josh says, closing the door to the dryer and pressing the button to start it.

Drake, sitting on the washing machine beside him, asks moodily. "What did you almost forget?"

Josh frowns. "What's the matter?"

"It's Saturday. I leave tomorrow."

"I've been trying not to think about it," Josh admits. "This week has been--"

"Stop," Drake interrupts him. "Tell me tomorrow, okay?"

Josh looks at Drake, then nods. "Okay. But hey, what I was going to say is--I told some of my kids that I'd try to get them your autograph. Wanna sign your name a few times?"

Drake grumbles and hops off the washing machine, but he's not actually annoyed. He still has the urge to look over his shoulder to see which famous person is standing behind him whenever he hears the words "can I have your autograph?" despite having some number one singles on the radio and panties thrown at him at every concert. And the fact that some high school kids--girls, probably--have asked Josh to ask him? It's cool.

"Thanks so much for--" Josh begins, following him into the kitchen for a pad of paper.

Drake grins and waves him off. "Aw, you know I love signing things. It makes me feel famous."

"You _are_ famous," Josh replies, a note of pride in his voice. "You get girl's underwear thrown at you. That is the epitome of fame."

Drake chuckles. "I was just thinking about that, actually. Did you know that a lot of the panties have, like, marriage proposals written on them in permanent marker?"

Josh makes one of the weirdest faces Drake has ever seen him make, which is saying a lot. "That's really…odd," he says finally.

"I get marriage proposals at least once a week," Drake replies. "Just not, you know, in underwear form."

Josh raises his eyebrows. "Really? I don't remember you telling me that before."

Drake's grin widens. "Is someone jealous?"

"Is someone engaged?" Josh retorts.

"No."

"Then no. Are you going to give me some autographs or not?" Josh asks, setting down a pad of paper and a pen.

"You want just the standard 'Love Drake Parker' or do you want them made out to someone?"

Josh thinks for a moment, then says, "Do one to Melissa, one to Catherine, one to Kayla and one to Diane. Then 'just the standard'…how many do you want to do?"

Drake sighs. "How many do you need?"

"Well…I was thinking you could give me maybe…fifteen?"

"Don't expect the last ten to be legible," Drake warns, starting off with the four personal ones.

Josh smiles. "Thank you. The kids will be psyched."

Drake glances sideways at him. "You really care about them, don't you? The kids you teach."

"Yeah, I do. I student-taught a lot of them last year."

Drake returns to his name-signing. "You're really…"

"I know."

--

"So, as I was saying yesterday…you ready to hear it now?" Josh asks, as they wait at the airport.

Drake looks over at Josh and away from the view out the window. "No," he sighs. "But go ahead."

"This week has been wonderful, amazing, a--a hundred other things. Huh. I actually don't have as much to say as I thought. Kinda speaks for itself."

Drake nods. "Yeah. Josh…when are we gonna see each other again?"

"I don't know…my next extended time off is when the school has spring break. The third week in April."

Drake shakes his head ruefully. "That's the week I go on tour. I'm out and around until the beginning of June."

"We get out of school in mid-June," Josh says. "I guess that's when we'll see each other."

"Four months?" Drake asks in dismay.

Josh looks away. "I guess so. Do you…is the distance thing not working for you anymore?"

"Hey." Drake reaches over and tips Josh's chin up. "I wish we saw each other more often. But I love you, and if we have to be on opposite coasts for right now, then we do. Distance isn't going to separate us." Before Josh can open his mouth, Drake adds, "Well, literally, maybe. But it's not going to make us end this."

Josh smiles. "Good. Thank you. I love you too."

An announcement crackles over a loudspeaker, calling for Drake's flight to board.

"That's you," Josh says reluctantly.

Drake's reply is just as reluctant. "Yeah."

They stand there, looking awkwardly, both feeling the tension. Then Drake shakes his head, and mutters, "Oh, what the hell." He takes Josh's face in his hands and kisses him. Josh's arms automatically move around Drake's waist. They kiss deeply for a moment, then, unwillingly, Josh pulls away.

"You can't miss your plane," he murmurs. "You've got an interview tomorrow."

"Yeah," Drake answers. "I'll send you a copy when it's printed."

"I'll probably already have bought my own."

Drake sort of half-chuckles. "Yeah. Well…see you."

"Later."

Drake starts toward the gate. When he's about ten yards away from Josh, and Josh is already starting to be swallowed by the crowd also rushing to board, he calls, "I love you!"

Drake puts up his arm, waving over his shoulder. "I love you too!" he calls back.

Josh turns and leaves the airport, glancing back once at the plane about to carry Drake back to the West Coast.

--

END


End file.
